Post-Brexit: Untangling the fishing mesh
| Published date | 01 October 2020 |
| Author | Jill Wakefield,Thomas van Rijn |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X20951127 |
| Date | 01 October 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Post-Brexit: Untangling
the fishing mesh
Thomas van Rijn* and Jill Wakefield**
Abstract
Fisheries is one of the key issues in the negotiations for an agreement between the UK and the EU
on their future relationship. At the end of the transition period, the UK will have full sovereignty
over its waters but the EU is demanding the continuation of the existing pattern of fishing as far as
possible. This article untangles the different elements of the issue. It demonstrates the interna-
tional legal requirements for the regulation of fishing that will have to be met by the UK. To meet
its obligations with regard to access to and use of fish resources under international law, a close
cooperation with the EU and other neighbouring countries will be necessary. As the EU nego-
tiation position links a free trade agreement with an agreement on fisheries while the UK is seeking
discrete trade and fisheries agreements, the position at the end of 2020 is very uncertain. The
problems regarding the trade in fish and fishery products, customs duties and sanitary product
standards will be examined. EU provisions on environmental standards and marine protected areas
will in principle no longer be applicable in the UK, but marine environmental protection is an
obligation of international law so the protection of the marine environment and ecosystems in UK
waters post-Brexit will be considered. We conclude by considering whether Brexit will deliver
anticipated benefits.
Keywords
Brexit, fisheries, international fisheries organizations, trade in fish produc ts, marine protected
areas
* European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
** University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Corresponding author:
Thomas van Rijn, European Commission, Kastanjebomenlaan, 8 Brussels 1049, Belgium.
E-mail: thomasvr48@gmail.com
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2020, Vol. 27(5) 660–683
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1023263X20951127
maastrichtjournal.sagepub.com
MJ
MJ
1. Introduction
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the transition period that maintains the UK’s
membership of the EU customs union and single market will expire at the end of 2020. There will
be no extension of the transition period; instead either the UK will have a new customs and trade
arrangement with the EU or will trade with the EU on WTO terms.
While EU law is still applicable to UK fisheries during the transition period,
1
the terms of a new
EU/UK fisheries arrangement are currently under discussion. At the same time a Fisheries Bill is
proceeding through UK legislative processes with the intention that a new UK Fisheries Act will
come into force at the start of 2021.
2
Unless a fisheries agreement is concluded between the EU and
UK, those EU27 states used to fishing UK waters will lose those rights while UK vessels will lose
rights to fish EU waters and rights to fish under fishing agreements between the EU, Norway and
the Faroe Islands. As the UK’s membership of the regional fisheries management organizations
has been through the EU, the UK will have to join these as an independent state and negotiate for
catch share without the support of its EU partners.
Although the UK Government retains jurisdiction in international matters and relations, fish-
eries and environmental protection are areas of devolved competence, whereby the administrations
in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales determine their own policies and management
approaches. The UK fishing industry is not homogenous but quite disparate: Scotland and Northern
Ireland are reliant on pelagic fishing (for example, mackerel, blue whiting, herring), while in
England the fleet catches mainly demersal species (for example, cod, haddock, turbot, sole) and
in Wales small-scale vessels land mainly shellfish.
3
Any new policy will require a consensual and
coordinated approach between the devolved administrations to ensure coherence. Although the UK
is regaining sovereignty, the question arises as to whether UK fisheries, a major platform of the
Brexit campaign, and coastal communities particularly dependent on fisheries, will benefit as a
result of the UK’s departure from the EU.
In this article we will focus on three post-Brexit issues: first, the requirements of international
law that will have to be met by the UK and EU; secondly, the situation for the trade in fish and
fishery products regarding customs duties and sanitary product standards; third, environmental
standards and marine protected areas. We conc lude by considering whether Brexit will bring
benefits to the sector. But we will start with the EU and UK negotiation positions as a background.
2. Post-Brexit: The negotiating positions of the EU and UK
While the Withdrawal Agreement specifies the terms of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and
lays down the regime applicable during a transition period running from 31 January 2020 until 31
December 2020, the future relationship between the UK and the EU from 2021 has to be estab-
lished through one or several agreements. A framework of the future relationship has been set out
in a Political Declaration annexed to the Agreement.
4
In the Political Declaration the parties
1. Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union
and the European Atomic Energy Community, [2020] OJ L29/2, Article 127.
2. Fisheries Bill [HL] 2019–21, https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2019-21/fisheries.html.
3. The Marine Management Organisation, UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2018 (2019), www.gov.uk/government/news/fish
ing-industry-in-2018-statistics-published.
4. Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United
Kingdom OJ [2020] C34, No. 74 (‘Political Declaration’).
van Rijn and Wakefield 661
To continue reading
Request your trial